Word: uniden
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...fallen in love with a phone. And not a cell phone either, just a plain old cordless phone for your house. Not that there's a single aspect of this phone that's plain or old. In fact, the Uniden ELBT595 exhibits technological advances that ought to put the mobile business to shame...
...biggest newfangled feature is the Bluetooth connectivity. If you have a Bluetooth-enabled phone (and they're becoming more common), you can set your phone to send calls to the Uniden. Why? So that you can leave your mobile phone in a spot near the window where it gets the best reception, yet carry on animated conversations walking all around the house with the Uniden cordless handset. The only restriction is that your mobile needs to be within about 30 feet of the cordless phone's base station, and preferably a lot closer...
Still, there was a clear winner in the group: the Cobra PR 4000 WX ($120 a pair). While the Uniden GMRS 750-2CK ($100) had the second best range of the bunch, it was too big and bulky to carry around easily. The Audiovox GMRS 7001-2CH ($100) and the Midland Radio G-300 ($120 for a Two Pack) were much more compact, but their minimalist designs made it hard to find and use their various features...
...only a few companies sell the new models, and they don't come cheap. Uniden's TRU5865 costs $149, while the Vtech 5831 is $179. I preferred the Uniden because it was static free both inside my apartment and up to a block away. Its compact design hides the antenna inside the handset, and the glowing orange keys and display look sharp. The VTech got equally clear reception indoors, but I could stray only a few buildings down the block before buzzing...
...matter which kind of phone you're considering, a few other factors are worth keeping in mind. First, ask about battery life. While I liked the reception best on the Uniden, for example, it can go only four hours between charges vs. eight on the Vtech. Next, find out if the phone is analog or digital. Both 5.8-MHz phones are digital, but that's not always the case with the models that use other frequencies, and this makes them an easier target for eavesdroppers. The best digitals use digital spread-spectrum (DDS) technology, which sends the signal down...